Thursday, March 10, 2011

On Artificially Fabricated Atmospheric Cnidaria

Of the order Aeromedusae. Blobs that drift around the sky, much like clouds, but more alive, and with somewhat less purpose; usually slow and patient, with no motivation, and no need for it either. But in spite of all of the perceived laziness, they spend their entire lives moving. Not even of their own free will, but directed by the sovereign commands of atmospheric currents.

They have no centralised nervous or digestive systems, but do have some form of primitive respiratory system that is used more for locomotion than for breathing, although it can generate a soft but coarse, rustling roar that is semi-effective at deterring would-be predators.

As opposed to mesoglea contained by a double layer of epithelial cells, they are filled with a surprisingly argon rich gas partially contained by a thick layer of randomly arranged polycarbonate chains.

Once the sessile stage of their life ends, they roam freely, but serve very little purpose except to migrate, especially across roads. The classic cliché should not be "Why did the chicken cross the road?", but rather "Why did the plastic bag cross the road?"

(On a side note: I learned today that jellyfish have no brain and operate entirely off of impulses in response to nerve inputs. They have absolutely no intelligence, yet still tend to form swarms of tens of thousands of individuals. It is very tempting to draw conclusions regarding the intelligence of humans who tend to swarm together in huge groups...)

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